At the start Zanardi - who had had a terrible year with the team - was able to jink his way up to second place. During the first lap Coulthard went off and his car refused to handle well after that and he slipped backwards down the order. This enabled Hakkinen to build a quick lead as his rivals were stuck behind the Williams. In his efforts to keep back the chasers Zanardi ran over a kerb and damaged the underside of his car, gradually slipping backwards. This left Frentzen ahead of Ralf Schumacher and Ferrari's Mika Salo. On lap 30 Hakkinen made an elementary mistake at the first chicane and spun off. Frentzen duly took the lead and held it all the way to the finish to score his second win of the year.